Garbage management on travels?

I am in Japan right now and one thing baffles me: what is the best way for discarding garbage if you do not have a permanent home?

From Europe, I am used to finding garbage bins almost everywhere. In the places I have been to so far in Japan, there is barely any such bin to be found. One example of many would be Shinjuku: you get yourself some nice soft ice in a paper cup. Walk to a place where you can sit and watch people. Now where to with the remains? Slightly more conventional: buy a lunch box, walk to river, sit down, enjoy lunch and weather ... and wonder where to dispose of the remains.

At the same time there are strong warnings not to just drop garbage (which is perfectly understandable!)

So far I have always found a solution. Even if it involves taking everything back to the accommodation or disposing of it on the train.

What is the expected course of action in such a scenario - and why is it this way?

Many thanks for your insight in advance!

Convenience stores always have garbage bins (burnables, non-burnables, PET bottles, cans, etc.) around, so that's where I tend to go :)

Thank you for taking care to keep the cities clean :)

Ideally, you should go back to the place you got them. Even if you see no bin, the people who sold them to you will most likely dispose them for you, if you ask.

You can also try asking at the next place you buy food.

The second best thing to do is to take it back home or to your accomodation.

Another option is to go to supermarkets, buy something as a courtesy, and throw away your garbage. It's better than throwing them away at convenience stores, because supermarkets have more workers and larger dust bins.

Or you can go to public restrooms and dispose them there, but as a courtesy to the other users you may want to wash off any excess food that is left.

The worst thing you can do is to leave it on a train, unless there is a dust bin there! If you leave gargage on seats, racks or floor, it would either annoy other users or can be seen as unidentified objects and will involve a lot of security people!

In any case, it is very rude and annoying to leave large garbage at places that aren't responsible for it. And keep in mind that garbage bins were mostly taken away after the 9/11 and Sarin terrorism.

and why is it this way?

I forgot to answer this.

Before the big terrorism attacks, there were indeed more dust bins around. That said, a civil servant once told me that parks tend to be kept clean when there is no dust bin there. In other words, when there is no bin, people tend to be more responsible for their own garbage and take it home, the servant said. Actually, though, I just thought that when there is a dust bin, garbage tend to blow away by strong wind or simply leak from the bin.

In any case, when there's a bin, you'll need workers to clean it up. Or worse, it will be cleaned by volunteering shopkeepers. On the other hand, if each and every person takes care of their own little garbage, no one would have to take care of big garbage.

That's the idea.

You should bring all your garbage or rubbish to your accommodation, that's the common sense.

Whenever I have bought things with wrapping or food I bring it back to whichever hotel I am at. I separate the garbage in plastic bags: one for plastic bottles (of soda)and metals cans (of beer) after rinsing them. One bag is for paper products (advertisements given to me on the street, newspapers, etc.), and the last one for non-recyclable rubbish. I'll keep that last one tied tight since I don't have them clean the room every day to save water. I've done that on every trip and it just comes naturally to me now. I keep the room clean because that's my bedroom during my stay and I don't like being a slob or for anyone to think I am.